Now in their 38th season, the heart of The National Shakespeare Company performance is an ensemble of eight actors dedicated to making the classics accessible to modern audiences. Drawing upon the traditions of the Bard, the ensemble utilizes live music and quick character changes to bring the text to life. Bentley's back-to-back performances deliver fast paced, highly physical productions.

Chilean-born guitarist, Oscar Lopez performs intense, technically awe-inspiring Latin instrumental dance music on a nylon-string guitar. HEAT, his fourth solo album showcased a flamboyant, melodic style and climbed to #14 on the Billboard's New Age chart. Lopez's vibrant style reflects his Chilean roots as well as his love for Brazilian, Greek and Mediterranean music and even American blues.

This professional chamber music ensemble specializes in period instrument performance from Baroque, Classical and early romantic eras. Now in their tenth year, this Waltham based group shares its name with its acclaimed concert series, Post Road Historic Concerts. The group's first CD, The Virtuoso Double Bass has garnered substantial regional and international acclaim. Their program at Bentley will be Bach's Virtuosi featuring works by J.S. Bach and the composers who worked with and influenced him.

Exploring the life and times of African-Americans who helped shape the Harlem Renaissance, this piece examines three outstanding but very different poets - Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Claude McKay - as seen through the eyes of the painter and muralist Aaron Douglas. This nationally acclaimed trio of cello, piano and percussion, performs music by composers ranging from jazz greats Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Jelly Roll Morton, Thelonius Monk and Charles Mingus to concert composers William Grant Still and George Walker.

Originally from Odessa, Russia, Ms. Heifetz has been performing and recording extensively in Europe and the U.S. for the past 15 years. First prize winner in the Liederkranz Foundation Competition, she has five CDs currently in print. Her recordings of Liszt, in particular, have garnered her much critical praise. The program at Bentley will include highlights from her repertoire featuring Liszt and Chopin.

In its fourth decade, under the direction of Joel Cohen, the Camerata continues to win praise for its unique programming and superb performances. Their numerous recording on the Erato, Harmonia Mundi, Nonesuch and Telefunken labels are distributed worldwide. Their 1989 recording of Tristan et Iseult, based on original medieval sources, won the Grad Prix du Disque of the Academie Charles Cros, Paris. The Liberty Tree program presents a romp through the early years of America. Songs, ballads and marches from the founding of the American republic through the Civil War.

South Pacific was the talk of Broadway even before it opened on March 7, 1948. James Michener's novel "Tales of the South Pacific" had won the Pulitzer Prize. Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II had already reshaped the musical stage with Oklahoma and Carousel. On a Pacific Island during WWII, two diverse couples fall passionately in love, break up and fall in love again.

"If Broadway ever erect a monument to the patron saine to Laughter, Neil Simon would have to be it." He has kept America laughing for forty years and has been rewarded with four Tony Awards, two Emmys and a Pulitzer Prize. What would you trade for happiness? There are those who believe that ignorance is bliss, and Neil Simon puts that theory to the test in this hilarious play. In 1890, a 200-year spell is cast on a Ukranian village, rendering all of its citizens dumb as stumps - but happy. After the initial glory wears off, the villagers hire a teacher to help counter the effects of the spell. The only catch? He has 24 hours to break the spell or he'll become as dumb as everyone else.

The international students of Bentley College present a fashion and talent showcase from around the world.

$10 admission. Not included with Bowles Series subscription.

TICKET INFORMATION:

Individual tickets for the Bowles Performing Arts Series cost $3/student, $5/staff and faculty, and $7/general public and can be purchased at the LaCava Information Desk in advance or at the Lindsay Auditorium Box Office one hour prior to each show. Season tickets cost $40, and can be purchased by contacting 781/891-3424.

BENTLEY UNIVERSITY is one of the nation’s leading business schools, dedicated to preparing a new kind of business leader – one with the deep technical skills, broad global perspective, and high ethical standards required to make a difference in an ever-changing world. Our rich, diverse arts and sciences program, combined with an advanced business curriculum, prepares informed professionals who make an impact in their chosen fields. Located on a classic New England campus minutes from Boston, Bentley is a dynamic community of leaders, scholars and creative thinkers. The Graduate School emphasizes the impact of technology on business practice, in offerings that include MBA and Master of Science programs, PhD programs in accountancy and in business, and customized executive education programs. The university enrolls approximately 4,100 full-time undergraduate, 140 adult part-time undergraduate, 1,430 graduate, and 43 doctoral students. Bentley is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges; AACSB International – The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business; and the European Quality Improvement System, which benchmarks quality in management and business education. For more information, please visit www.bentley.edu.